Casting-machine.



P. E. REES & B. L. SIMPSON.

CASTING MACHINE. APPLIOATION FILED MAY 10, 1911.

Patented July 2, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

4g MM iil "I UNITED STATES PATENT oFrIoE.

PERLEY E. REES AND BENJAMIN I1. SIMPSON, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

CASTING-MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, PERLEY E. REES and BENJAMIN L. SIMPSON,- citizens of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Casting-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to casting machines and more especially to a machine whereby chilled castings may be produced efiiciently and rapidly.

A further object is to produce a machine which can be handled by a single Operator and which embodies the desirable features of simplicity, strength, durability, compactness and cheapness of construction.

Vith these objects in view and others as hereinafter appear the invention consists in certain novel and peculiar features of construetio-n and organization as hereinafter described and claimed; and in order that it may be fully understood reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1, is a side elevation of a casting machine embodying our invention. Fig. 2, is a top plan view of the same. Fig. 3, is an enlarged top view of part of the machine. Fig. 4c, is a face view of part of the machine shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5, is a horizontal section showing a part of the mechanism shown most clearly in Figs. 3 and 4, the section being on the dotted line V of Fig. i. Fig. 6, is an enlarged section on the line VIVI of Fig. 2. Fig. 7, is an enlarged section on the dotted line VII of Fig. 2.

In the said drawings where like reference characters identify corresponding parts in all the figures, 1, is a pouring ladle provided with the customary lipped spout 2, and depending through and resting upon a substantially circular ring or support 3. 4: are angle plates or clips secured to said ring or support, overlying the upper edge of the ladle at opposite sides to guard against independent upward movement thereof through the ring or support.

The ring or support is provided in substantially transverse alinement with the lipped spout of the ladle, with upwardly projecting portions 5, formed with outwardly projecting trunnions 6, pivoted in the notched upper ends of a skeleton frame 7, resting on the ground or other suitable foundation. At opposite sides of the ladle Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 10, 1911.

. sides.

Patented July 2, 1912.

Serial No. 626,589.

the ring or support is provided with depending notched bearing lugs 8, pivotally engaging outwardly projecting trunnions 9, at the ends of a yoke 10, and extending downward and forward from the central portion of the yoke is a toothed stem or rack-bar 11. 12 is a tubular sleeve in which the said rack-bar fits slidingly and at a suitable point said sleeve is provided with a pair of oppositely-projecting tubular arms 13, arranged between the sides of the frame 7 and journaled on pins or studs 14: (one only appearing) projecting from said The sleeve 12 is provided with an opening 15 receiving a pinion 16, engaging the bar and said pinionfits between a pair of tubular bearing lugs 17 cast or otherwise rigidly secured to the sleeve and forming a journal for the short shaft 18 upon which the pinion is rigidly mounted.

19 is a laterally projecting arm rigid with the front lug 17 and projecting forward from said arm are lower and upper pins or stops 20 and 21 respectively, and near the last-named stop or arm, the arm 19 is provided with a'third pin 22. Pivoted at 23 to the free end of said arm, is a swing arm 24 and pivoted at 25 to the free end of swing arm 24 is a detent 26 engaging a ratchet wheel 27 secured rigidly on shaft 18 at the front side of arm 19, said detent at its free end having a handle 28 by which it can be readily tripped from engagement with the ratchet wheel. To hold the detent in yielding engagement with the ratchet wheel and the swing arm yieldingly elevated, the detent is provided at its lower end with a forwardly projecting pin 29, connected by a retractile spring 30 with pin 22 of arm 19.

Pivoted upon the forwardly projecting hub 31 of the ratchet wheel is a lever 32 and retaining the same upon said hub is a crank handle 33 clamped rigidly against the hub bya bolt 34:, and pivoted at 35 to the lever and disposed at the rear side of the same in the vertical plane of the-ratchet wheel, is a gravity-or equivalent pawl 36, normally engaging the ratchet wheel and of such form that when thrown out of engagement therewith, it will remain in such inoperative position until the pawl is swung back to its original or operative position.

Assuming that the parts are disposed as shown in full lines, it will be seen that downward pressure applied on the lever will, through the engagement of pawl 36, impart rotation to the ratchet wheel in the direction indicated by the arrow Fig. l, and that under such rotation, the pinion will be turned and the rack-bar moved upwardly and tilt the ladle rearwardly and downwardly' with trunnion 6 as the axis of such tilting movement. Before the movement of the ratchet wheel takes place, the detent and swing arm will occupy the depressed positions shown in Fig. 4L, as the engagement of the detent with the ratchet wheel prevent-s spring 30 from elevating said parts. In the early part of such movement, the retractile spring elevates the swing arm and detent to the position shown in dotted lines, the spring by connection with the detent at the opposite side of its pivotal point from its free end, maintaining the lastnamed end in engagement with the ratchet wheel. Before the movement imparted to the ratchet wheel by the lever ceases, the stop pin 21 arrests the upward movement of the swing arm and detent but does not interfere with the independent pivotal action of the latter on pivot 25 during the ratchet wheel.

remaining part of the movement of the By depression of the lever molten metal is poured from the ladle and its reelevation permits the ladle to have a back-lash movement, that is to drop back N a slight distance, this back-lash movement being accommodated by back rotation of the ratchet wheel and downward movement of the swing arm and detent until arrested by the lower stop 20. Upon the next depression of the lever the action described is repeated, it being understood that on the drops back the second time it is arrested in a position higher than that which it ini tially occupied, that is higher than that which it occupied before the first depression of the lever. It will thus be seen that with each depression of the lever, the tilting of the ladle is increased, and in practice the parts are so proportioned that substantially equal quantities of molten liquid are poured from the ladle in the various actions of the same.

To illustrate clearly the action of the ladle it is shown in dotted lines in two different positions in Fig. 1, the uppermost position representing the pouring position vto which the ladle is raised when the lever mit the same to return to its initial or elevated position as shown in Fig. 1, the ladle settling back to. its lower dotted line position for the purpose of cutting ofi the flow of molten metal from the ladle. Upon the next depression of the lever, the ladle is swung upward from the lower dotted position ,mentioned to a position above the uppermost dotted lines and upon the fol lowing reelevation of the lever, the ladle settles down to the position shown by said uppermost dotted lines, these actions being continued as hereinbefore explained until the ladle is tilted sufficiently to discharge all; of its contents and in this connection it is desired to state that Fig. 4, represents indotted and full lines the only positions which the swing arm 24 occupies during the adjustment of the ladle, the detent of course having independent pivotal movement on pivot 25 out of and into engagement with the ratchet wheel 27-.

The ladle is adapted to pour molten metal from its spout into molds disposed just below the lip of its spout, and in the preferred construct-ion the molds will consist of an inner member 37 and an outer member 38, hinged to the inner member 89, the bore or passage 40 of the mold being formed in the engaging faces of the members. To clamp the members of the mold together, a lever 41 is pivoted to one of them and is provided with a depending arm 42 for a wed'ging engagement with the lug 43 on extension 44: for engagement with the said lug to eifect outward swinging movement of the hinged member as the lever is grasped and pulled upward, and immediately after this opening movement of the members is started the lever comes in contact with the stop 45 of the hinged member to continue the opening movement thereof and permit the casting to drop out of the mold or be readily removed therefrom in the event that it adheres to either of said members.

In our preferred construction there will be a large number of molds arranged circu- 'larly and provided with vertically disposed loops 46 to receive the upwardly-projecting arms of angleplates 4C7 secured on a rotatable 51, upon which the table rests. Rigid with the table and arranged concentrically thereof is a horizontal ratchet wheel 51, and pivoted on the upper end of the shaft is a horizontal lever .52, provided with a gravity pawl 58 engaging the ratchet wheel 51.

To limit the swing of the lever, its pivoted end is provided with a notch 54:, receiving a pin 55 secured to the shaft 49, and in this connection it is desired to state that the swing of the lever is adapted to rotate the ring or table a distance equal to that between the centers of adjacent molds, and

that the weight of the ring or table and the molds is such that the rotatable movement will be so slow that no impetus will be gained sufficient to carry the table a greater distance, hence with each swing of the lever a mold will be disposed vertically below the spout or lip of the ladle.

In the drawings, the bore of the mold is vertical and near the lower end of such bore, the members 37 and 38 have conical projections 56, which abut together at their apices so that when the molten metal is poured into the mold the casting in the form of a sash weight-will be formed with an eye which flares at each end for convenience in receiving the means whereby the weight is attached to a sash cord or chain.

In practical operation the ladle will be charged with molten metal in any suit-able manner, and one of the molds will' be disposed adjacent to the lip of the spout. The lever will then be depress-ed to tilt the ladle sufliciently to discharge sutiieient metal into the mold to fill the same, the surface of the metal being chilled because the mold is of iron or analogous metal, the removal of pressure from the lever permitting the ladle to tilt downward toward its initial position. The operator, who will stand between the levers, will then with his left hand, draw the lever 52 toward him to rotate the ring or table in the direction indicated, by the arrow, Fig. 2, until such movement of the lever and hence of the ring or table as hereinbefore stated, is arrested by the contact of one wall of notch 54 with the pin 55 of the stationary shaft 49, at which time the mold mouth occupies a position vertically below the lip of the spout of the ladle. Lever 32 is then again depressed and as hereinbefore eX- plained, the ladle is raised to a slightly higher position than in the first action to pour a charge of molten metal into the following or second mold, the pressure on said lever 32 being then removed to permit the ladle to tilt back and cut off the flowing metal therefrom. Following this action, the lever is swung back to its original position and then forward again to impart another step to the ring or table and dispose the third mold below the lip of the ladle, these actions,

in the order mentioned, being continued until all of the molten metal has been poured. The table or ring will preferably be so proportioned'that by the time the first mold charged has traveled a distance of one hundred eighty degrees more or less, the casting will be sufficiently hard to be withdrawn from the mold and this will preferably be accomplished by a boy or other unskilled help who will swing lever 41 upward and through the pressure of cam at on lug L3 force the hinged member 38 outward from the inner member 37, the continued movement of the lever causing it to strike lug 45 to widely open the members as indicated by one of the molds in Figs. 1 and 2, and thus permit the casting to fall to the ground or onto a carrier or receptacle, not shown, for conveying the casting to the point desired. Should the operator release the lever after thus opening 't-hemold, it will drop back until cam 44 strikes a lug 57 on the inner member and thus be prevented from swinging to a pendant position and putting the operator to the trouble of swinging it a considerable distance in order to restore it to its original position. Immediately after discharging the casting, the boy or other attendant, closes the mold and relocks it in its closed position by pressing downward on the lever to cause its lug to engage the inner edge of lug L3, as shown in Fig. 6. In this connection it will be understood that while the circular mold carrier described is preferred, any other suitable intermittently movable carrier may be employed in connection with the ladle, or the molds may be placed in or removed from position below the ladle by hand, without in any way affecting the practical and successful operation of the ladle. hen the ladle is empty it is restored to its original position by throwing pawl'36 to an inoperative position and withdrawing and holding the detent 26 from engagement with the ratchet wheel. As this is accomplished the ladle by force of gravity swings downward, and to prevent such movement being too rapid and forcible, the operator grasps handle 33, and through the same, shaft 18, pinion 16 and the rack bar 11, retards the descent of the ladle. He then releases the detent to permit it to reengage the ratchet wheel, and swings the pawl 36 back to its original or operative position.

From the above description it will be apparent that we have produced a casting machine embodying the features of advantage enumerated as desirable and which is obviously susceptible of modification in various particulars without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A ladle tiltable in one direction for pouring purposes and in the reverse direction to arrest the pouring operation, and means whereby reverse tilting or back-lash movement of the ladle shall be automatically arrested before the ladle attains the position it occupied prior to the preceding pouring tilting movement.

2. In a casting machine, a ladle having a spout for pouring purposes and pivotally supported approximately coincidental with the spout, a pawl and ratchet mechanism connected to impart upward movement to the ladle with said pivotal point as the axis of such movement and then return toward its original position, a detent engaging the ratchet element of said mechanism and adapted to move bodily with said element in the early part of the pivotal action of the ladle and to permit of the continued action of said element after its said movement ends and then reengage said element and be bodily moved in a reverse direction with the same as it returns toward its original position, and means to arrest the detent as it attains its initial position to lock the ratchet element against further reverse movement and secure the ladle in a position higher than its initial position.

3. A ladle tiltable in one direct-ion for pouring purposes and in the reverse direction to arrest the pouring operation, and automatic means whereby each reverse tilting or back-lash movement of the ladle shall be of predetermined length and shorter than the preceding pouring tilting movement of the ladle.

4. In a casting machine, a suitable frame, a support pivoted to said frame, a ladle carried by said support and provided with a spout in alinement substantially with the axis of said pivotal point, a pawl and ratchet mechanism connected to impart up ward movement to the support and ladle with said pivotal point as the axis of such movement and then return toward their original positions, a detent engaging the ratchet element of said mechanism and adapted to move bodily with said element in ends and then re'elngage said element and be bodily moved in the reverse direction with 'the same as it returns toward its original position, and means to arrest the detent as it attains its initial position to lock the ratchet element against further reverse movement and secure the ladle in a position higher than its initial position.

5. In a casting machine, a ladle having a spout for pouring purposes and pivotally supported approximately coincidental with the spout, a. yoke having a pivotal relation to and supporting the ladle remote from its pivotal point, means for elevating the yoke to tilt the ladle, and means to permit the yoke to drop back a fraction of the distance which it was elevated, to effect reverse tilting movement of the ladle.

6. In a casting machine, a ladle having a spout for pouring purposes and pivotally supported approximately coincidental with the spout, a yoke bearing a pivotal relation to and supporting the ladle at a pointremote from the first-named pivotal point, a toothed stem depending from the yoke, a

stem, a shaft suitably journaled and movable with the sleeve, a pinion mount-ed on the shaft and engaging said toothed stem, means for turning the shaft to elevate the yoke and tilt the ladle, and means to arrest back rotation of said shaft and reverse movement of the ladle before the same is tilted reversely sufliciently to attain its original position.

7. In a casting machine, a ladle having a spout for pouring purposes and pivotally supported approximately coincidental with the spout, a yoke bearing a pivotal relation to and supporting the ladle at a point remote from the first-named pivotal point, a toothed stem depending from the yoke, a pivotally-supported sleeve receiving the stem, a shaft suitably journaled and movable with the sleeve, a pinion mounted on the shaft and engaging said toothed stem, means for turning the shaft to elevate the yoke and tilt the ladle, a detent adapted to move bodily in one direction when the shaft is turned to elevate the ladle, and to have reverse movement with the shaft and ladle, and means to arrest such reverse movement of the detent to cause the same to arrest the reverse movement of the shaft and ladle before the latter has attained its initial po sition.

8. A ladle tiltable in one direction for pouring purposes and in the reverse direction to arrest the pouring operation, and automatic means actuated by the reverse tilting or back-lash movement of the ladle to effect the arrest of such reverse or backlash tilting movement before the ladle attains its original position.

9. A ladle tiltable in one direction for pouring purposes and in the reverse direction to arrest the pouring operation, means movable in one direction during the early part of the tilting movement of the ladle for pouring purposes, and actuated to movement in the opposite direction during the entire reverse tilting or back-lash movement of the ladle, and means to arrest the said opposite movement of said first-named means and through the same the reverse tilting or back-lash movement of the ladle before the latter has attained its initial position.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures, in the presence of two witnesses.

PERLEY E. REES. BENJAMIN L. SIMPSON.

Witnesses HELEN C. Ronenns, G. Y. THoRrE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

pivotally-supported sleeve receiving the- 

